The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-02
A GEORGIAN IN LoNp IN.
The Tipping System Something About
the Lodging Houses.

in contact with the various phases of
English life. The difference between life
here and in the States is SO marked that it
impresses itself upon every newcomer
Among the first things that attract the
attention of Americans is the
TIPPING SYSTEM"
When you pass the gang-plank into one
of her majesty's steamships at New York
you are virtually in England. Everything
Is English about you, and you are con-
stantly reminded that you are under
the English government. The only
compensation awarded is the assurance that
you are under the protection of that gov
eminent as well. On board you get your
first lessons as to the method of clipping"
The officers distribute you about into as
many hands as possible First is the stew
ard, who attends to your room and makes
up your bed, and if your wife accompanies
you, tnse stewardeSS comes in to look after
her comfort. The steward makes up your
berth and the stewardess that of your wife.
One would not dare do the work of the
other, because it would be infringing upon
prerogatives. Secondly, the walters who
attend to your wants at the table There is
the deck steward, who supplies you
with any little things you might prefer, after
casting up" your dinner. Then comes the
man who sweeps off the deck and ties up
low your dinner into the midst of the sea.
Of course you will want to go to the smol1
ing saloon. There you will find another
steward to look after your wants, and
finally the bootblack, who, with a little
saliva smirches over your shoes in the dead
hours of the night Then you are placed
under obligations to all these parties, and as
you dance to their music you will have to
pay every fiddler. Some of their demands
are of no small dimensions. just opposite
me at our table sat Canadian
with a lady friend. AS we reached
Liverpool the gentleman handed his
waiter half a crown zoe. of our money,
which the waiter Indignantly refused to &C
cept, saying that half a sovereign for each
was the price for attendance about 81 so,
whereupon the Canadian, in language more
emphatic than polite, refused to pay any
thing. When we were freed from the Gus
tom house officers and stepped into cab
for the Adelphi, the man who opened the
door waited for his tip" and the driver did
not go until he got it. So we find it every
where. No matter where you go, you are
placed into two or three hands to get every
penny out of you possible. At hotel one
servant takes your umbrella and overcoat,
while another carries your gripsack to your
room, and the third looks after your
luggage in the hall below. This is what
they call a division of labor, which includes
a division of support. The only excuse l
nave heard given for this method, is that
there are so many people here, and all have
to be supported. Every favor extended is
expected to be paid for. Your room at the
hotel is placed at 81 25 per night and then
you have to pay 81 lie. to the waiter for
attendance, that is, in bringing you water
and towels, and making your bed. This is
the custom, and it is no use to kick against
it. Ii you do you are the loser in the end
60 10
classes of society, even to the church usher,
that he who neglects it must suffer in conse-
quence. Woe be it to the unfortu-
nate wight who forgets this part of
religious service On Sunday last / attended
one of the popular churches in London. !
was directed to a certain door, where there
were over 100 people waiting for the doors
to open. l readily saw that this would not
do. So a shilling, judiciously invested, car
ried me around to a side entrance, where /
was placed within thirty feet of the preacher
in most comfortable pew.
All this is submitted to by our English
cousins, because it is regarded as a necessity
They grumble at Americans because they
have increased the burdens; for Americans
feel ashamed to give penny and Ihence
give shillings where pennies formerly met
the demand. In Rome we yield to Roman
demands.
It would seem to the average American
that two-thirds of London is devoted to
lodging people. It means simply that and
nothing more. You lodge. If the average
american boarding house is a study and a
problem which puzzles the economist as well
as the philosopher who attempts to weigh
the responsibilities of existence, and give a
reason for the diversities in all well regu-
lated society, what shall be said of English
apartments, where a majority of the mil
lions of London exist The house in which
we have apartments is not an exception to
the general character of such benevo-
lent institutions 1t has, it is true,
its peculiar characteristics--its lines
of light as well as its sombre shadows. In
renting apartments you are expected to
rent not only bedroom but also drawing
room, which answers the double purpose of
parlor and dining-room, or, in other
words, suite You are furnished break
fast, consisting of bread, butter, bacon or
ham with eggs and tea or coffee, for Is. 3D.
each. A chop breakfast with potatoes costs
Is. each. Then you have to look out for
your own dinner and supper, if you get any.
Strange to say, that while | write at this
moment there are over a million people on
the streets of London who do not know
where they will eat their supper three hours
hence
Our landlady has not a commanding
figure, but her widows weeds" become
her we'll, and her resolute manner of doing
things fits her admirably for the important
position which she holds Her intense
passion is TO secure the largest amount of
ready cash from her dodgers. Her qualifi-
cations for this work are of the highest
order, which is clearly demonstrated by the
fact that her interest flags in any one lust
in proportion as the bills fails in prompt
ness. She charges nothing for making fires,
but only for the dndling which starts it.
She charges nothing for gas only for the
servant who must come and light it.
Another popularity of lodging" is that
you never know or see your fellow dodgers.
We are in a house where there are seven or
eight other persons, and we have been here
over a month, yet have never met or seen
any of them, only as they may be passing
out of the door. We rarely ever see the
landlady, unless our bill is due, so that
''lodging" is a secluded and exceedingly
selfish life. II is said that English homelifc
is charming and exceedingly pleasant, but /
have not seen an English home since have
been in London. | do not believe. however,
that there is any place where home and
homelife are so lovely and elevating as is TO
found in our own happy land.
THE CUISINE
The preparation of food is quite different
here from that ut home. All bread is served
cold, with crust SO hard and tough that it
requires an effort to cut it, to say nothing
of chewing it. 1t is made with but little if